Athletics in the UK: The Rise and Fall of the BAF

123 What about the athletes? The following year, 1989, was the year when the athletes really did save the sport in Britain. The European Cup was held in Gateshead, the stamping ground of Brendan Foster, Steve Cram and others. Held over two days, the Cup is the European championship of nations and the winning team can rightly claim to be Europe’s top athletic country. Great Britain had never won this competition. The men’s team got off to a good start when Kriss Akabusi surpassed himself to win the opening track event, the 400m hurdles, and, at the end of the first day of competition, the team was in first place, leading the Soviet Union, favourites for the title, by 11 points. Could they hold on? The team spirit continued through the second day but, by the start of the final event, the Soviet Union had narrowed the gap to a single point. All would depend on the last event, the 4x400m relay, but Great Britain had a good record internationally in this and finished triumphantly in first place. The capacity crowd was delirious but team manager Les Jones suddenly realised that there was no appointed team captain to collect the trophy. There could be only one choice and Linford Christie was appointed captain on the spot. As has been described elsewhere, this unexpected result was the crucial factor in convincing ITV to renew its long term contract to broadcast British athletics. The icing on the cake was that the women’s team finished in third place, equalling their best ever performance in the competition. By winning in Gateshead, the British men qualified to take part in the World Cup in Barcelona at the end of the season. The World Cup, organised by the IAAF, was a hybrid competition between eight teams; representing continents, the best European national teams and the USA. Against the best in the world, the British team finished third, behind winners USA and the continental European team. Somewhat hidden amongst the world class performances, was a break through by a British athlete who was to become a household name – triple jumper Jonathan Edwards won his first significant international competition.